


Larry Stylinson 50s au

by angelicwritings24



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 50s Greasers, 50s au, Alternate Universe, Bad Boy Harry Styles, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Greaser Harry Styles, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Sassy Louis Tomlinson, Zayn and Liam are basically married, greaser liam, greaser zayn, soc Niall, soc louis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27515605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelicwritings24/pseuds/angelicwritings24
Summary: Harry's a greaser. Louis is not. They hate each other at first. Then try to make it work.Basically I got inspired by various 50's au's so I decided to write my own. Enjoy.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Ashe, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne, brief Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

The air was warm and the light breeze had everyone basking in the sunlight. Kids were always out at the sock hops, or playing backseat bingo at a drive-in. For most kids that is. However Louis Tomlinson was stuck working at a record store for half his summer days, much to the short brunettes dismay.  
He was currently on the telephone with his girlfriend Elanour. Nobody usually came into the poor little shop on the corner of Abby Lane. So the records tended to collect dust in the nearly untouched room. With the seventeen year old sitting behind the counter board out of his mind.  
"I just wish you could come with us to the drive-in tonight. They're playing Niagara and I know how much you adore Marilyn!" Elanour begs on the other line. The girl was a queen in their highschool. Popular beyond compare. Louis was lucky just to be dating her so letting her down like this always made Louis stomach twist.  
"I know and I'm sorry but I had to take the late shift tonight. You understand don't you El?"  
He hears her exaggerated sigh before Elanour finally responds. "Yeah whatever it's fine. I'll just go to the passion pit with Niall and Brianna or something."  
Louis sighs now too because the disappointment in her voice is so obvious. "I really am sorry babe," He tries again.  
"Yeah it's whatever. We'll talk later," She says before hanging up leaving Louis feeling incredibly guilt ridden.

Louis sits there sulking at the blank wall of the record store. Completely oblivious to the person standing on the other side of the desk waiting for his attention. "Ehem," the man cleared his throat, successfully breaking Louis out his staring match with the wall.  
Louis blushes in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry uhh how can I help you?" That is until he sees who it is.

The boy that stood before Louis was immediately recognized as a member of the most notorious greaser gangs at his school. The Southside Swingers. Louis' face immediately goes hard as he is determined to stand his ground.  
Sure Louis wasn't necessarily a soc considering his family was far from rich. But he still wouldn't trust a greaser boy as far as he could throw him.

With the greasers jade green eyes and overgrown chocolate curls he seemed almost amused by the tough front this kid behind the counter was putting up. "Don't they have record shops on your side of town?" Louis asks with a raised eyebrow.  
Curly just laughs as he was expecting nothing less from a north side kid. "They do, they do. But none that sell Ella. Which is exactly why I interrupted your little staring match with the wall there."  
Louis squirms feeling very embarrassed that he had been caught. "Well unfortunately for you I don't even know if we sell her. Never heard of this Ella."  
The jade eyed boy gasped in shock at what the cashier boy said. Overdramatically placing two hands over his heart. "You don't know Ella!"  
Louis just blinked at him.  
"Ella Fitzgerald, you've never heard of her? Don't you work at a record store?"  
Louis rolled his eyes at the boys antics. "The F's are organized down that row go check it out if you want."  
The boy laughed and went over to where Louis had gestured.

Louis made sure to keep a watchful eye on the greaser. They weren't known as the most honest group of kids. And Louis wouldn't put it past them to steal.  
After what feels like forever with Louis keeping an eye on his unwanted company Louis starts to get impatient. "Did you find what you need yet?" Louis sighs running a hand through his feathery brown hair. Blue eyes staring intensely at the customer.  
"Don't worry pretty boy I'm not here to steal," curly jokes as he winks at the cashier boy.  
Louis sighs rolling his eyes once again. Not that he trusts the boy or anything (he would never admit to that), but something in those green eyes tells him he's being truthful. So Louis reluctantly goes back to the magazine on the desk fighting his urge to check on the greaser kid.

After about ten more minutes of silence conversation strikes up again. "So what's the story of a beautiful boy like you? I thought socialites didn't have to work. Daddy's money and all," curly asks having suddenly appeared back on the other end of the desk.  
Louis groans at this boys persistent need to speak to him, "Bold of you to assume I'm loaded."  
A flash of remorse passes through his eyes but it disappears as quickly as it came. "You're not? I mean you live in the North so I just thought-"  
Louis cuts him off growing tired of his deep smooth voice, "Look I know what you're trying to do, chatting me up and all. But I don't want any part of you and your greaser friends."  
Louis could see he slightly hurt the tall boy's feeling but curly quickly shrugged it off.  
"Not even if I asked you on a date?" He asks raising an eyebrow and winking.  
Louis is caught off guard by the offer, "Especially not if you asked me on a date. For one you're a boy. And also I have a girlfriend."  
The jade eyes squint at the last part. A frown now visible on his lips. "The gender part I don't particularly see a problem with," Louis furrows his eyebrows. Everyone has a problem with that. "Now the girlfriend part is definitely an obstacle. But it's not like you're circled or anything."

Louis rolls his eyes for what seems like the hundredth time in just this hour. This is the most nosy customer he thinks he has ever encountered.  
"How long?" The deep voice continues to question.  
Louis stutters knowing he'll get made fun of for his response. "A week," he mutters.  
The taller figure immediately erupts with laughter. The sound while mocking him was filled with pure happiness and Louis couldn't help but smile the slightest bit. "You call a week of holding hands on the sidewalk a relationship?"  
Louis' mouth falls open feeling offended. He scoffs, "I will have you know that we have done more than hold hands!"  
But this only caused the greaser to laugh harder because seeing the blue eyed cashier all defensive was the most adorable thing he's ever witnessed. Like a sassy little kitten.  
"Well you don't seem like the type of cat to play back seat bingo what are we talking, a kiss here or there?"  
Louis gasps incredibly offended now. How dare this stranger walk into his shop and criticize his sex life. He didn't even know the greasers name and somehow he had managed to get under his skin. And it irritated the hell out of Louis.  
"Just give it up!" Louis groans crossing his arms. "I don't even know your name yet your hitting on me!"  
The jade eyed boy is shocked to remember, he's right he hasn't introduced himself. "Oh my goodness you're right!" He then promptly sticks out a large hand for his new cashier friend to shake. "I'm Harold Edward Styles. But my friends call me Harry. Lovely to make your acquaintance," He jokes pretending to be incredibly proper.  
Louis just sighs ignoring the beauty of his name. "Well I'm Louis and I'm not your friend. So I would appreciate it if you left my store Harold," Louis sasses not shaking Harry's hand.  
But Harry isn't offended and just puts his hand down. Taking a minute to gaze into the blue oceans Louis called eyes.

Louis groans and stares at him as if to say, You may leave now. So Harry takes the hint. "I won't give up on you Louis," Harry smirks. "See you around!"  
"I hope not!" Louis calls waving to him goodbye.  
Harry laughs taking one last look at the blue eyed cashier before promptly making his exit from the store.

Walking down the sidewalk on his way back home the greaser pulled out the Ella record hidden in his coat that he had managed to snag from the little shop. He had only planned on stealing a few things and making an exit, but the boy had made it much more interesting.  
"Louis," He said to himself. It sounded nice rolling off his tongue. Right then and there Harry decided he wasn't kidding when he said he would never give up on him.  
He had a feeling that the boy was destined to be his. And oh did Harry want to make that feeling a reality.


	2. Chapter 2

When the teal clock above the door reads 10. Louis sighs a breath of relief as he goes to lock up. The boy never even noticed the missing record that had been shop lifted.  
He walked along the silent streets passing the large homes of his rich friends. He lives down a little further than any of them. He finally reaches his badly kept white house that's had pealing paint for years now. It wasn't necessarily small, just a major downgrade from his last house a few years ago. He sighs opening the door and shouting through the 3 bedroom. "Dad I'm home!" He calls out getting no answer as expected.

"Good afternoon Louis," a voice suddenly calls out to him. He turns in its direction to see Mary smiling in his direction. She was a black woman who helped around the house and was considered the help. But the woman practically raised Louis when his parents were too busy for him. Which happened to him all the time.  
"Hey Mary," he smiled although the woman could see his tiredness through.  
She frowns looking over the short kid. She had taken care of him since he was about three and had practically memorized all of his moods. "You're home late," she remarks as she continues to sweep the floor as she was doing before he entered.  
Louis sighs following Mary as she swept into the kitchen. "Yeah I took up the late shift at the record place down the street." Mary nodded continuing to clean. "Between you and me my dads money is stretched pretty thin right now. Although he'd never admit that to his rich friends," Louis laughs rolling his eyes at his dad.  
Mary lets out a quiet chuckle. "Well I hope its only a one time thing."  
Louis shrugged, "Well Mr. Delacroy said I was doing good and could pick extra hours for an extra earning. I might take him up on it."  
Then Mary stops sweeping and looks up at the short boy with a frown. "Oh no you won't. I will not allow that boy."  
Louis furrows his eyebrows and tilts his head to the side. "Why?" Even though Mary isn't his mom he values her opinion more than any other adult in the world. After all, she taught him everything he knew about his values and his behavior since his parents were too busy to do so. At first it was just a job considering that's the only one that would hire a black women. But Louis quickly became another son to her and to him almost like a surrogate mother.  
"Because you are a seventeen year old who works on the weekends only to come home and hang out with the help," she frowns continuing to sweep.  
Louis scowls too, "Well you raised me, and I think I'd much rather spend time with you than anyone else."  
Mary laughs and Louis feels proud he made her smile. "Well what about that ol' girlfriend of yours?"  
Louis sighs, "We have only been dating a week. And as some kid pointed out we've only really held hands."  
Mary laughs once again. "Isn't that more of a reason to hang out with the girl. Go further in the relationship."  
"I guess," he shrugs. Mary looks up at him a stern look in her eyes. Louis sighs knowing deep down she is right.  
Louis watches her sweep until he decides that he has nothing better to do so he grabs a rag and starts to wipe the counters. "Oh honey go sit you had a busy day," Mary persuades but Louis just shakes his head saying that its fine.  
Mary sighs but eventually lets the kid help.

Suddenly footsteps walk into the room and Louis recognizes it as his father. "Mary make me a sandwich will you," he says as more of a statement than a question.  
Louis rolls his eyes at his dad who didn't even bat an eye at his sons presence. "Hi father," Louis says in attempts to get acknowledgement.  
He just grunts at his son while grabbing a beer from the fridge waiting for Mary to finish. When she does his dad grabs it without a thank you retreating back to his study to finish some paper work.

Mary looks up at him with a sad smile. Louis just shrugs, "I think I'm gonna go to bed. You'll be happy to know that I'm going to the fair with my friends tomorrow."  
Mary smiles at the kid, "I am happy. Now I've got to get home too." Mary walks over to him and giving Louis a kiss on the top of his head with a smile. "Sleep tight Lou," She smiles.  
Louis nods before yawning loudly and walking Mary to the door. "Say hi to Anna and Tommy for me," Louis smiles referring to Mary's own kids who he's met numerous times. She smiles and nods before starting her walk to the bus stop a block down.

Louis heads back inside locking the door and deciding to just head up to his room. He passes by his dads office where he can see the stress lines on his father's forehead. Sure, he wasn't the most present parent, but he worked hard for Louis and he did appreciate it. Louis sighed and continued up to his room for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess what classic movie I got inspo from for this chap?

"C'mon Louis I want to ride the Ferris wheel," Elanour begs snatching Louis' hand and running to the carnival ride with him.

The day was Saturday. The sun was up and the day was the perfect medium between too hot and too cold. Every kid in town was out at the town carnival. Louis and his group of friends were no exception.  
The carnival was a rather small one, but it as relatively popular since it only came to town once a year. It only stayed for a week or two so it was always packed.

Louis ran behind El as they rushed over to the large white ferris wheel and climbed aboard.  
As they circled up and down the two love birds smiled at one another and glanced down at the ground so far below them. They flirted and made small talk while feeling the calming circle of the ride as they got close enough to the top to touch the clouds.

___

Harry and his group of friends were bored. They all generally hung out in Zayn and Liam's house since they were 19 and old enough to buy one. The building was small and sort of falling apart but it worked for the greaser group. Zayn and Liam obviously were sleeping together and if it were legal probably would be married by now, so their two guest bedrooms were more often than not inhabited by Harry, Perrie, or Ashe.  
So when the group was sitting in the living room that night they decided they should go out and do something. The fair seemed to be the best option.

The group of 5 walked through the gates of the fair, earning lots of states from various soc kids. But that only made the group smile liking their intimidated looks. "You know I'm unsure if people are staring at us because we're greasers or 'cause of your gay shit," Harry laughs looking at his two friends who were unable to keep down their PDA apparently. Zayn currently had his head on Liam's shoulder with Liam's arm around Zayn's shoulder.  
Liam glares at Harry and hits him on the back of the head when he hears what he said.  
"Oh calm down Haz it's not like you don't wish you had a relationship like theirs!" Ashe laughs at him.  
Harry just frowns. "You know I swing both ways..." Harry says twisting a finger in her hair.  
But she just swats it away. "Don't even try it Styles. We both know you are more of a brother type."  
Pez laughs too saying, "Don't try it with me either Haz. You may talk like apple butter but you're not my type."  
The group continues to laugh at Harry's ability to be shot down by two girls at once as Harry suddenly gets completely distracted.

His eyes at first hadn't realized what they were indeed staring at but when they focused and he could finally see the ferris wheel car, he saw who it was.  
"Louis!" He shouted suddenly sprinting away from his group.  
The other four stood their confused as they watched their friend gallop over to the ride as fast as lightning.  
"Louis! Louis!" He continues to shout as he gets closer and closer.  
He saw the blue eyed cashier boy suddenly hear his name being called. Harry waits until Louis and that girls cart comes to the bottom before he runs and sprint over to them hoping up into the cart. Squeezing right smack in between Louis and the girl.  
Both of them scream making Harry laugh as the wheel suddenly stutters to a stop at it's peak height.  
"Harry?" Louis suddenly questions loudly. "What the hell are you doing here?" He just smirks in response.  
"You know him?" The brunette girl exclaims from beside him. But Harry pays her no mind.  
"Hey kid two people per cart!" They suddenly hear the carnie shout from the ground. But Harry disregards his words of caution.  
"Louis when I saw you again I knew I had to ask you one more time," Harry starts staring sincerely into Louis' confused ocean eyes.  
Louis frown. "Ask me what? And why couldn't it have been said on the ground!" He shouts exasperatedly.  
Harry laughs having known he would say something like that. "Asking up here seemed much more sincere."  
Louis rolls his eyes and still waits for this crazy greaser boy to ask his question. "Louis will you go out with me?" Harry asks loud enough for everyone on the ferris wheel to hear and gasp. Being gay was not something commonly seen or even talked about around this town. So it's safe to say the redness in Louis' cheeks was from embarrassment not from blushing.  
"Wha- no!" Louis immediately shouts.  
Harry frowns at that but does not give up.  
"He's not gay! He has a girlfriend, so could you please just get off our cart!" Eleanor Louis' apparent 'girlfriend' shouts.  
Harry completely ignores her though and still just stares right into Louis eyes. "Come on Lou you know you want to," he says shocking everyone by slowly starting to stand in the cart.  
"I said no! Now would you get down!" Louis says his fear of the boy falling seeming to over take his thoughts.  
"God you really make this hard," Harry mumbles to himself. Everyone in the entire carnival is watching with wonder as the crazy greaser stands fully up in the cart. Louis is looking at him with pleading eyes telling him to get down. But Harry sees this and uses it to his advantage. All of the sudden Harry is jumping and catching himself on the metal bar of the Ferris wheel. He is full on dangling now by the hold of his hands causing everyone to shriek. He briefly hears the sound of Liam, Zayn, and the rest of his group shouting at him from the ground. But he promptly ignores them.  
"Are you crazy!" Louis shouts watching the boy dangle in front of him.  
Harry smiles, "Maybe. But come on Lou what do you say? You don't want to make me let go do you?"  
Louis is now panicking. This boy with his leather jacket, slick back curls, and piercing green eyes was a proper maniac and Louis didn't know what to do. Being the stubborn boy he is he tries to hold his ground. "I said the answer is no," Lou says a lot less sure of himself than he was at the beginning.  
"Oh Louis," Harry sighs still dangling. "You're gonna make me slip if you don't say yes soon."  
Suddenly Harry's right hand begins to tremble and slip and ultimately let go. Everyone screams, moms covering their daughters eyes and Louis' staring at him all wide eyed. When Harry's left hand trembles too that's it for Louis. After all he didn't want him to die.  
"Okay! Okay! Okay! I'll go out with you Harry just please get down!" He shrieks begging into Harry's green eyes.  
But Harry is persistent, "Really?"  
Louis is baffled, "Yes Harry! Yes!"  
He smirks now putting his other hand on the bar above, "Well only if you want to Lou?"  
"Yes I want to Harry! Just get down!" Louis is full on begging and Harry is now satisfied.  
"Well if you want me so badly," Harry smiles swinging back to Louis' cart and riding with an annoyed Eleanor and an in shock Louis all the way to the bottom.

When they finally do reach the bottom the Eleanor girl runs straight to the arms of her friends crying as if she had been the one hanging on the side of the ride.  
But Harry honestly could not care less about that over dramatic excuse of a girlfriend. The only person he cared about was Louis. And he was currently storming away from the ride as fast as possible. But Louis was small so it only really took Harry three jogs in order to catch up to him.  
"So how about that date?" Harry asks jogging beside the short brunette.  
Louis suddenly turns to him anger present in the way his eyebrows curve down along with the frown that is set in stone. "Why have you done that! You are such an actor Harold!" Louis yells.  
But Harry only smiles because happy, sad, mad, Louis was always a pleasure to be in the presence of. "Maybe," He admits. "But it got you to say yes didn't it?"  
Louis shakes his head in disbelief before starting to walk away from him again. He knew that Harry would only follow though. "You ought to be kidding yourself if you think I'm going out with a greaser boy! Let alone an insane one!"  
Harry just laughs, "Come on Lou I was kidding!"  
"Says the boy who was hanging off the side of ferris wheel ten seconds ago!" Louis rolls his eyes. And Harry was starting to be incredibly turned on by this sassy Louis.  
"Well you said yes didn't you? All I need is a date and a time."  
"No date, no time. I'm leaving."  
With that Louis is off leaving Harry stand there in awe of the way the sun shown on his soft hair and slightly sun tanned skin. "Oh come on Louis!" Harry calls out, hands making an O shape around his mouth in order to be heard. "I said I wouldn't give up on you!" He shouts again.  
This time Louis turns around and starts walk backwards facing Harry. "You're crazy greaser!" Louis yells back. And Harry can just barely make out the small shake of his head with a slight smile he bites back and refuses to show.  
Harry smiles watching him turn around and strut off into the distance. And maybe he was crazy. Crazy about this stranger who in the first minute of meeting him had made his hands sweat and his heart swell and his throat go dry. Crazy about this boy who he knew he had fallen in love with at just the sight of him. So maybe he was crazy, but that didn't make him want Louis any less.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry was insistent that he would see Louis again. Even if he had now shut him down twice. A guy could take it. Especially if he loved this person. So naturally when Harry woke up the next morning he wasn't in bad spirits at all. In fact his mood had changed from giddy to gritty. He was determined to get a date with this boy for he was whipped and he only barely knew his name.

"I hope you aren't out searching for that soc boy already!" Harry hears the smooth voice of Zayn call out to him. Harry was just about to leave the house in search of doing exactly that. He had put on his nicest black jeans with a clean white muscle tee tucked in and his hair greased back. He look rather handsome if Harry said so himself.  
"So what if I am?" Harry calls back not moving from his place by the front door.  
Just then Zayn saunters into the room with his eyebrows raised. "Well as much as I adore that you are falling for someone again. You have a job to do," Zayn says with a slight chuckle. He really did feel giddy knowing his best friend was finally falling again.  
But Harry just stood there confused. He and Liam had a joined business where people would hire them to come to their homes and fix up their old bikes and cars and things that most real greasers knew how to do. But Liam was supposed to cover for him today. Zayn saw the confusion and stepped up to clear the air. "Li went back home yesterday for Ruth's birthday. He told me to tell you to cover for him."  
Harry sighs looking at Zayn longingly. He had things to do today that didn't include fixing some old rich mans car. "Come on Haz we both know you need the money. Besides it'll barely take more than an hour and then you can be off searching for your lover boy again," Zayn giggles.  
Harry eventually sighs and mutters out that he'll take the job. Zayn then tells him that Liam gave him the clients contact information on a piece of paper before Harry begrudgingly trudged out of the house.

He pulled up to the Tomlinson house a little bit in better spirits. Liam had wrote on the paper that he usually gave big tips if you do your job right so at least he'd be getting a decent amount of change for wasting his time.  
He pulled up in the soc neighborhood in his dingy truck. He look like an outsider among these fancy houses. But he ignored it. 1501 was the address and Harry was a bit surprised. Not that the house was small, because it was certainly bigger than Zayn and Liam's, but still it wasn't as big as any regular soc house should be. It comforted him a bit.  
He knocked on the door only for it to be opened by a small round black woman who Harry immediately knew was the house help. Harry smiled down at her, he was used to seeing that at socialite's houses and he despised how these women were treated. "Well aren't you handsome," she says making Harry grin. "Did you get lost boy?"  
Harry laughs since he definitely did not look like a social considering his attire. "Actually no," he laughs. "Here about a call for a broken bike? It's usually Liam who's here but I took his place today."  
The woman nods and tells him to wait here while she goes and gets Mr. Tomlinson.

Harry waited patiently at the door examining the entryway as he did. The house seemed a little odd. There were hardly any family photos on the wall. In fact he couldn't seem to pick out even one. It was rather clean in their but the kind of clean that made you feel nervous like you couldn't touch anything.  
Finally a tall man walked to the front door to introduce himself. "Harry Styles?" Is the first thing the man says holding out his hand to give a firm handshake.  
"Yes sir," Harry says turning on the charm like he always does in soc houses. No need to rub them the wrong way. That always was an invitation for trouble.  
"Well come on in! I got the bike right out back," He said inviting him in and showing Harry to the garage.

"A 1938 Vincent Black Shadow," was the first thing Harry said. "Sir you got a real beauty on your hands." The man chuckled as he walked over to the sleek black bike. Harry couldn't help but think it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Second of course to a certain blue eyed boy.  
"Yeah well it might be nice but it won't even start. Afraid it's not worth anything unless you can actually ride it," The man explained rubbing his hands on the object like it was what he loved most about life. It almost made Harry cringe how he pet the piece of metal.  
"Don't worry sir your bike is in good hands. I should be done in a few days. A week at most," Harry nods. The man finally detaches his eyes from the bike to look at Harry.  
"Just keep her clean yeah?" He asks almost in a threatening tone. Harry just nods before the man leaves to go inside and leave Harry to his work.

___

"Mary who was that?" Louis asks hoping down the stairs from his room.  
Mary smiled looking up from cleaning the windows by the front door. "Just the ginchiest young man I had ever seen," Mary responds bluntly making Louis chuckle. "A little young for me though," She adds laughing at her own joke making Louis smile.  
"Did this 'young man' have a name?" Louis wonders taking the spray from her hands and helping out with the next window. Mary had given up on telling Louis not to help since he always does anyway.  
"Not sure honey. But you could go ask him. He's in the garage fixing that bike of your dads."  
That slightly peaks Louis' interest. A new good looking boy couldn't have negative impact in his life could it? Can't hurt to just look? No touch.  
Mary sees his contemplating face and rolls her eyes. She snatches the spray out his hands and pushes him in the direction of the garage. "Go introduce yourself boy before I give you a knuckle sandwich," she says opening the garage door for him. Louis laughs but does as told and heads into the garage.

They seemed to be working hard but Louis couldn't really see him all the way. He was obviously tall since his legs nearly came up to Louis' chest but the darn boy wouldn't turn around so Louis idea what to expect. "Um excuse m-" he starts but then his smile drops and his eyes go wide when he realizes he was just checking out Harold Styles.  
"Louis?" Harry asks making sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. But he was certain the last time he'd been high was at least a week ago. This had to be reality.  
"You are the kid daddy hired for his bike!" Louis yells in disbelief.  
"You are the Tomlinson's boy?" Harry asks equally as confused.  
Louis shook his head not believing this. Why was Harry everywhere.  
"Are you following me?"  
Harry scoffed at that, "What no! To be honest it kind of seems like you're mighty obsessed with me. Showing up at the same carnival as me, showing up at my work-"  
Louis' mouth open in shock, "Your work is in my house!"  
Harry chuckles rather liking when Louis gets mad or flustered. Which seems to be a lot.  
"I-ugh! I cannot with you! You just- leave!" Louis frowns at Harry crossing his arms over his chest.  
But Harry can't do that. He had by some stroke of luck managed to kill two birds with one stone. And he was not about to pass up this opportunity to spend time with Lou. Not that he had to let him know that. "Not until I finish the job. I'm a man of my word you know," Harry says blaming it on the job. Not the beautiful presence that is Louis Tomlinson.  
"Well-well leave as soon as it's done!"  
"That is what I usually do after work."  
"Well just make sure you do it!"  
"You really like having the last word."  
"Well apparently so do you!"  
He slams the door making Harry laugh as he hears his small feet stomp away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this one isn't very well written. But idk :/

Harry's presence quickly became a regular one at the Tomlinson household. Harry had managed to convince Liam to let him take the job full time and now he is at the house every two days working slower than usual in hopes to find out a little bit more about about the Tomlinson boy.

One time when Harry was working though Louis wasn't alone and was instead accompanied by none other than a short Irish blonde who Harry couldn't quite tell if he was competition or not. So of course Harry stood up a little straighter and broadened his shoulders and deepened his voice in order to prove to Louis he was the better option.  
"This is that greaser you're hanging out with?" The blonde asked sounding almost nervous. That made Harry happy.  
Louis sighed, nodded, and began the introductions. "Harry this is Niall. Niall, Harry," Louis said in a monotone voice gesturing to each boy as he did so.  
Harry nodded at the blonde. "Nice to see I'm so special you must introduce me to your guests!" Harry beamed. But Louis was quick to shut it down.  
"Actually Niall was intrigued by the show you put on in the fair. That's the only reason I'm introducing you right now," he frowned folding his arms. But that only made Harry giggle. He hadn't quite noticed it but Louis really was quite tiny. Even this Irish lad was a good inch or so taller. "Anyway we should head out we got to get ready for the day with the girls," Louis mentions about to turn around. 

But before he can head out Harry has an idea. A lightbulb moment, if you will. He immediately drops his wrench and jogs a bit over to the boys who are about to go back inside. "Hey you two by any chance meeting your dolly's at Maria's Dine n Drive?" Harry questions with a smirk.  
Louis begrudgingly turns back around to face Harry. "Maybe, what's it to you?"  
Harry just smiles wider, "Well me and my crew were planning on makin' a scene there tonight." Not necessarily true but it could be depending on what they say next. "I'd love to meet up with you all. What'd you say?" Louis immediately lets out a long strain of No No No. But much to his dismay Niall seems to have taken another position. 

"Come on Lou this guy is hip! Besides I could use a little brake from you goody-two-shoe partypoopers!" Louis rolls his eyes at his friend who is suddenly jumping all over the greaser.  
"Whatever he can come. You two can make out for all I care since you seem to love Hood over here," Louis frowns. For the first time Harry does feels slightly hurt by the name Louis calls him. But if it made Louis feel guilty to see the greaser hurt, he doesn't show it. Niall just laughs and smiles though obviously happy to make new friends, "We're showing up at six!" Niall informs him.

"Don't be late!" Louis calls back harshly. 

___

"Come on!" Harry whines standing in front of the couch where his friends all resided passing a joint along to one another. Each taking a long slow drag, no one giving him an answer.

"Harry isn't Marie's like a North side spot?" Zayn frowns. "Who knows if they'd even let me in."  
"I'd kill them if they didn't," Liam growls from beside him. Pulling Zayn further into his side. Him running his finger through Zee's overgrown black hair as his head rets on Liam's shoulder.

"But either way," Ashe cuts in tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "I don't really want to hang around with prissy socialite kids," she groans.  
"I second that," Perrie adds after taking a drag.

But now Harry is just annoyed. He made a promise to meet up with Louis. And if he misses this, then how is he gonna make Lou fall for him? His friends needed to understand the weight of this situation, and stop taking it like it's something they can just blow off.  
"Come on guys please," He practically begs running a hand through his greased hair. "We don't have to hang long. We can just make a scene then split." The faces of his friends were still blank and didn't seem to be changing. "Please!" Harry begs dragging out the 'e' sound for dramatic effect.

Finally at least one of his friends seems to crack. Zayn's face softens as he sees how desperate Harry is being. He hasn't seen his friend this whipped in a long time. If he was honest it was a nice change of pace. "Come on guys, it is only one night. Besides, it's important to Hazza," he reasons sweetly.  
"Thank you Zayn!" Harry exclaims. "Guys?" he asks addressing everyone else.

Harry awaits their responses praying they'll say yes. Bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Harry being the youngest in the group and therefore everyone's baby they couldn't stand stand wiping that smile off his face by saying no.  
"Alright I'm in. Maybe I can pick up some fancy soc boy's while we're there," Ashe giggles, half from the high, half from how desperate she is to be in a relationship.  
"I'm in too," Zayn smiles fondly, "obviously."  
"Same," says Pez. 

Harry turns to Liam the only one who hasn't voiced his opinion. He looked sullen as he glanced over at Harry in an uncertain manner. He hesitated before saying, "Uh- yeah we can make a scene."  
Immediately Harry's face lights up. "Oh thank god!" He grins. The friends all exchange slight worried glances. But it's too late now. They've all agreed. 

___

Louis' sweaty hand grabs hold of Eleanors as they enter Maria's dine n drive. They decided to eat inside instead of the option of having their food brought to their cars. Hence the "and drive" part of the name.  
Through the window he can see that the greaser party hasn't arrived yet. That makes him slightly less anxious knowing that they won't be there to begin with. But the fact still remains that they are coming. After all, Harry doesn't seem like the type to give up on a promise. 

"Let's take a spot at the counter!" Niall shouts, smiling as he bounds over to the stools with the rest of their socialite friends. Eleanor lets go of Louis' hand and skips over to the bar stool with the others. Louis casually walks behind them.  
They sit down at the counter, on the leather red stools talking and chatting about things that Louis genuinely wasn't paying attention to. To him their voices just mixed in along with all the others in the crowded restaurant. The place was antsville, and it was slightly anxiety inducing.  
He kept finding himself looking at the door. He catches himself each time and scolds himself by turning back to his chatty girlfriend and throwing curses at himself internally. But still every time he hears the tiny bell above the door chime he is immediately spinning around in his seat, only to find that it's some other family entering and not the green eyed biker.

When the door chimes this time Louis makes sure to keep his eyes on his girlfriend. That is until he hears her say, "I didn't know dirty greasers liked to spend their money here too. Don't they have places to eat on the South side anymore?"  
Immediately he finds himself spinning around in his seat only to instantly catch sight of him. Harry and his dimple smile laughing at something his dark haired friend has said. His smile is like a magnet and Louis finds a smile tugging on his own lips in response.

"Aye Harry you came!" Niall cheers bouncing up from his seat and straight into the huddle of greasers still standing by the entrance. Louis doesn't understand where that kind of confidence has come from. They looked like a proper gang right now. All in matching leather jackets with "South Side Swingers" printed on the back. All their hair was greased back except that single curl Harry had unglued that was just about to drive Louis mad. Either way, they looked intimidating. Yet there goes the bubbly Irish one making conversation over there like it's the easiest thing in the world.

"He knows them?" He hears El and her friend Hailee gossip.  
"Yeah... we know them." The look of shock on his girlfriends face was quite the sight to see. Face pale enough to pass for a ghost.  
"What'd you mean we?" Louis' not sure why he felt the need to emphasize that he knows them too. It's not like he's proud of being friends with the boy. Absolutely not. And could they even be called friends?  
"Daddy hired the tall one to fix his old bike," he explains while not looking at her at all. His attention seemed to be momentarily split between her and a certain good-looking greaser stood by the door.  
"He hired out a greaser to fix it?" She asks in disbelief.  
He shrugs, "They are the experts aren't they?"  
El scoffs before turning to her friend to discuss this newfound information. But Louis doesn't really hear it. He's a bit preoccupied.

"Lou!" an Irish voice suddenly pulls him out of his trance. "Don't be rude come say hi!"  
The entire group of greasers all of the sudden eagerly look in his direction. Their eyes look him up and down before they turn and whisper to one another. Harry rolling his eyes and slightly blushing at their antics. And the stares don't necessarily seem mean but it still makes him uncomfortable to be the center of attention.

Louis nods and slides off of his stool. Just as he does though, he hears Eleanor clear her throat rather loudly causing him to shift his attention to her. Her noise seemed to be some kind of nonverbal statement. Her eyes looked at him in a way that seemed to ask 'are you insane?' Louis couldn't help but feel like this is some kind of test. Like his decision will determine his entire future with her. He sighs looking between her and the greaser group, knowing what he wants to do, but also knowing what he should do. With one last look at her and a quick kiss on the cheek he makes up his mind. "I'm just gonna go say hi and I'll be back." She doesn't give him a response and only makes some sort of annoyed noise. He knows they will be having a conversation about this later. 

But at this point the decision is made. So he takes a deep breath and decides to walk over. He finds himself putting on that same unbothered front he had on that first time he met Harry.  
"Lads, this is my buddy Louis," Niall smiles clapping a hand on Louis' back. Louis finds it confusing why Niall is the one introducing him. After all, he was the one who first met Harry. Not Niall.

The group begins to go around with the introductions. "Perrie." A platinum blonde with brown growing out at the roots, along with thick eyeliner and red lips.  
"Ashe." Another blonde with a bright smile and cute beauty mark above her lip. He could tell Niall was checking her out.  
"M'Zayn. We've heard lots about you," a boy around Nialls height with dark black hair and slightly browned skin says. The statement makes the rest of the group laugh like they knew some secret that he doesn't. It made him retreat into himself a bit, feeling like the group was laughing at him.  
When the giggling quiets down, he gets an introduction from the last unknown face. "Liam," the tall brunette boy huffs out placing a strong arm around Zayn.  
"Nice to meet you all," Came his cordial response as usual. 

Then he once again hears the sound of someone clearing their throat in a means to get his attention. But this time it wasn't his brown haired frowning girlfriend. No, this time it was a certain pair of jade green eyes, he had been trying to avoid all night. Louis slowly looks up in order to meet those eyes that were already staring at him. The two of them take a moment to just look at one another. Neither saying any words both just studying the others eyes. Louis vaguely hears the sound of the rest of the group moving away from the doors and settling themselves in a booth. But neither boy pays attention to it.  
Without shifting his gaze one bit Harrys says, "Weren't sure you'd show."  
Louis smiles and shifts his eyes to the ground. Feeling kind of bad that he was the one to break eye contact first. "Well I-" He begins to say something hopefully funny and out of pocket. But a repeated tap on his shoulder is suddenly stopping him.

He whips his head around only to find Eleanor standing there once again. A less than pleasant look on her face. "Me and Haliee are gonna head over to Pops," She crosses her arms. Louis notices Hailee standing behind her with a matching expression.  
"Oh..." Louis stutters out looking at the two angry women in front of him. "How come?"  
Eleanor eyes Harry with judgmental eyes before she says, "We just don't feel... comfortable here at Maria's."  
"Oh," Louis slowly realizes what she means. And who is he kidding he feels slightly uncomfortable right now too. But she didn't have to make it so obvious. "Well did you want me to give some money to pay for your dinner?"  
It was a simple sweet question. But it was clearly not what she wanted him to say. "No I don't want your money!" She frowns offended. For some reason she glares at the greasers. Like they somehow forced Louis to respond the way he did. "Look when you are done with whatever this is," She says distastefully, "call me. We have a few things we need to discuss."  
Louis tries to respond, but how are you supposed to respond to that? And before he even gets the chance El and Haliee are out the door.

He stares at the door they walked out of for a solid five minutes. Not really knowing if he should go after her or stand tall in his decision. He was never really one for 'standing tall'. So why was he so adamant about doing it now?  
"You wanna take a seat at the booth?" The deep voice of Harry asks with a tone of gentleness that he hasn't heard before.  
With a sigh Louis looks back in his eyes. It was painfully clear that he and El were going to have a fight the next time he talks to her. So why speed it up for right now when he could instead have fun now and fight over the phone later?  
"Yeah," he forces out a smile as he and Harry walk over to the booth the rest of the gang (plus Niall) were sat at.


	6. Chapter 6

"So Louis, what's your deal? You obviously live pretty deep in the North side right?" One of the blonde's Louis kind of remembers as being named Ashe says. He knew they were judging from his clothes. He looked like some rich socialite's kid. Which was good as that was what he going for. But still, he didn't live far up into the North in some mansion, not anymore.  
"Uh yeah I live on the North side," He awkwardly answers. "But not too, too deep," He adds quickly.  
Ashe nods at the answer seeming to not notice his discomfort with this topic at all. Apparently Niall hadn't noticed either as he continued saying, "Yeah Louis used to live in one of those big ass houses deep in the North, but he moved after- Ow!" A kick lodged its way into Nialls shin from under the table. Niall looks at Louis who only gives him a look that screams, shut up. So he does so with a quiet little "sorry."  
Luckily everybody seems to have moved on to their own little conversations and hadn't noticed their tense interaction.

For a while Louis sat quietly and just observed the table. Nobody seemed to be too interested in talking to him anyway. Not that he blamed them, he wasn't too interesting in the first place. But he did notice one thing in particular, and that was the way the large guy named Liam held the other guy Zayn.  
In the beginning he had just figured they were super touchy friends or something. But at this point Zayn was fully draped over Liam as he leans into his chest to laugh at something Niall had said. That wasn't a proximity that friends usually got in.  
Awkwardly Louis takes a sip of his water in order to distract himself. But just then Zayn says something particularly funny and suddenly Liam is leaning down and kissing his cheek, and that of course is when Louis decides to quite literally choke on his water. Like seriously he was coughing loudly now, and he must've inhaled it instead of swallowed it or something.  
"Oh my god are you okay?" "Are you alright Lou?" He hears nearly everyone at the table ask, except for the one. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," He coughs gentler, hitting a fist against his chest. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."  
Everyone murmurs in concerned tones, but he doesn't stay around to hear them as he gets up and heads for the bathroom in the back of the restaurant. Louis pushes the door open to the bathroom, but doesn't go into a stall and instead just huddles himself over a sink. Staring at his frazzled appearance in the mirror. God he was a fucking mess.  
He supposes he shouldn't be surprised. Harry obviously was gay too, hence the him always hitting on Louis. But for some reason he hadn't thought all the way through what would happen if he'd actually said yes to one of his multiple attempts to ask him on a date. He would've been doing that. Making heart eyes and giving pecks on the cheek to another boy, another guy. For some reason that was so hard to fathom. And it wasn't even a homophobia thing for him, it was just an unfamiliarity thing.

Gently the door to the bathroom squeaked open. Louis doesn't turn to look at the door, and just keeps staring at the mirror, until Niall comes into view behind him. But his face isn't all distressed like Louis's. In fact it seems excited, and maybe slightly mind blown.  
"I'm not crazy right, Liam and Zayn are both like together, right?" Louis asks turning to face his friend.  
"You're not crazy!" Niall grins, "They're definitely an item. I saw 'em kissing and all of the sudden I was like 'Whoah! Ain't that nifty two guys in a relationship. Who would've thought?'" Niall laughs.  
"What do you mean, 'Who would've thought?' That's literally all people talk about on Sunday. You know 'Man shall not ay with man.' Ringing any bells?" Louis questions pointedly.  
But Niall only shrugs, "Well maybe they're not religious?" 

Louis has to laugh at that, because everybody here was religious. And it wasn't even that he was mad at them for sinning or something like that. It was just that, he didn't understand why they got to just not care. How come Liam and Zayn got to just go around holding each other and no one at the table even batted an eye. Ever single one of their friends seemed supportive. He just simply didn't understand it. 

"Even though it was surprising you didn't have make such a big scene about it," Niall scolds after a little.  
Louis nods because he knows he's right. He probably should have controlled his gasp. Then he wouldn't have choked so hard on his water drawing all of the attention to his shock. "Yeah," he agrees, "Just startled me I guess," He mumbles the last part. Turning back to face the sink and the mirror.  
Niall just bounces a nod in his direction, "It's fine. I'm sure it's happened many times."  
Louis sighs at his friends weak attempt to make him feel better.  
"Just come back out when you're ready, yeah?" He asks.  
Lou nods mutely and waits as Niall bounds out of the bathroom and the door swings closed behind him. 

With a sigh Louis stops his death grip on the sink and gently splashing that ice cold water on his face. Then grabbing one of the brown paper towels to dry his face and hands off. Before awkwardly stepping out of the bathroom and back walking back to the group.

"Aye he's back!" Niall calls out upon his arrival.   
"You alright soc boy?" Liam asks almost in a condescending voice. But Louis couldn't blame him.   
"Yeah I'm fine sorry," He says sheepishly.   
Luckily the attention seems to drift away from him after that. With a nearly silent sigh Louis sinks down into his seat in the booth. Secretly beating up on himself inside his mind. 

Suddenly an elbow nudges Louis side startling him out of his thoughts. "Hey you okay?" The voice is smooth and a soft in a whispering tone. Immediately he recognizes it as Harry. Who he notices had been uncharacteristically quiet all night.   
He looks up at him and plasters on a quick smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
Harry just stares back clearly unconvinced. "I figured you wouldn't mind since you never really seemed outright disgusted when I asked you out."   
And then Louis realized, oh. Harry knew why he choked, why he got up to use the bathroom. He knew that he was watching his friends. Oh shit.   
"No, no it's not that. I'm not disgusted," He whispers back. "I just- I've never- It's just I've never-"  
"Seen it for real before," Harry finishes for him.   
With a sigh Louis nods in agreement. His eyes falling to his lap feeling pretty ashamed and embarrassed of himself right now. But he only hears Harry laugh in response. Making him feel a little better. 

Louis sits silently again as everyone continues talking about something that he wasn't involved in. Except know he is incredibly aware of the fact that Harry's emerald eyes haven't stop looking at him since their last talk. Harry seems to take notice of Louis' boredom because after a minute he is leaning down to his ear and whispering, "Hey you want to get out of here?"  
In surprise he looks up at him and contemplates this for a minute. But it doesn't take long for him to nod out a yes.  
Harry smiles before announcing to the table, "Hey me and Louis are gonna head out." The statement is followed by a couple of wolf whistles that just confused Louis if he were being honest. But Harry seemed to know where they were coming as he just blushed hard at them. 

"You going to be alright if I go?" Louis asks Ni making sure he's fine with it. But when he doesn't receive an answer because he's too caught up in whatever interesting story Ashe is telling him, he just takes that as a yes.

The air outside the restaurant was crisp and chilly. Louis had driven over with El, and Harry had with Liam, so the two of them just walked. It was cold and dark and silent between to two of them, except for the moonlight in the sky and the sound of their feet crunching the dead leaves on the side walk below them. "So your friends are pretty cool," Louis tries to strike up some conversation.  
"Yeah," Harry laughs. "They can be a bit much, but they really are like a family for me."  
Louis nods, "No, I liked them. I did."  
Harry doesn't seem to be convinced. "Really? 'Cause I think that was the longest amount I have seen you be quiet for in my whole life," He eggs him on.  
He only rolls his eyes in response. "I wasn't that quiet," He protests.  
"You only spoke unless spoken to."   
Louis laughs again but doesn't deny it, because he knows it's true at this point. "Not true! I spoke to the waitress lady on multiple occasions!" He defends.  
"There we go! What happened to this Louis? Fiery, witty, sassy Louis huh?"  
He rolls his eyes because he's unsure if those were supposed to be compliments or not. "I don't know," He shrugs. "I guess they're just sorta intimidating."   
Harry nods but doesn't push it any further. He knows it'll probably take a little while for a son boy who was told his whole life to stay away from "hoodlums" like the Southside Swingers, to warm up to them. Not everybody could be a Niall.

They continue walking into the North side. Maria's being located right on the edge of the South and the North side. A middle ground almost.   
"Hey," Harry seems to think of something on the spot. "What was the deal with what your friend Niall said at the table?"   
"What?"   
"Yeah, he was like talkin' about how you used to live in this big Northside mansion or something. But now you-"  
Louis cuts him off, "It's not a big deal."  
Harry frowns looking at Louis and his now sort of crumpled form. He hates it. Abruptly he stands right in front of Louis and stops stops walking, causing him to do the same. "You know I don't think you're some stuck up rich kid who can't have any problems right?"  
Louis' silent.   
"Even if they're not as big as some of us greasers' are. I still wanna hear about them. Even the tiny minuscule ones you think no one will care about." After a moment he adds, "I'd care."

Louis just sort of stands there looking awkward for a moment, not really sure how to respond to all that. His mind reeling to find the words to make a sentence that would suffice as an answer.   
Finally he speaks, "It was a long time ago Harry. I don't need to talk about it."

And Harry stares at him for a little moment because who knows if Louis' telling the truth. But finally he just nods because yeah, if Lou doesn't wanna talk about it then he doesn't have to.   
"Can we keep walking now?" He sasses. Pushing past Harry's shoulder and continuing up the sidewalk. Harry jogging to catch back up.

The silence is sort of heavy now. Not as calm and peaceful as it had been when they were first walking. But now sort of looming like it was filled with a bunch of gray clouds. They passed the 1499 house and they look ahead to see that they're about to arrive at 1501.   
With the silence still looming they reach Louis' house. Awkwardly they stand by the front door neither making a move to leave.But in an instance it was getting awkward so Louis ultimately decides to say goodbye first. "I guess I'll see you around," He says as he unlocks to door and begins to head inside. Before he can fully close the door though, it's being stopped still by a hand.   
"Uh before you go..."  
Louis raises his eyebrows prompting him to go on.   
"Me and the crew were going to this rockabilly show down in the South. It be full road trip to get there, but I think it'd be fun. If you wanted to you know come with..." Harry trails off at the end. 

But Lou doesn't seem to be into it. "You're friends didn't seem to exactly love me," He puts it in the nicest way possible, instead of just saying out right, 'Your friends hate me I'm not going.'  
Harry chuckles, "Well maybe. But they love Niall. And he probably won't come without you."  
Lou laughs off his hurt, "Wow that's a five star invite right there."  
"Really feeling wanted," He sarcastically adds under his breathe.

"Well I'd want you to go," Comes an abrupt response.  
Either he heard what he said under his breathe or he's a mind reader.

Louis looks at him and can see the sincerity in his emerald eyes.   
With a sigh he replies with, "I'll think about it and let you know."  
Harry nods happily with a smile and he seems like he's just won the lottery. And Louis hadn't even said a 100% yes yet.

Harry's about to bid his goodbye know when Louis asks, "Are you gonna be over here tomorrow to finish up the bike?"  
He asks it as casually as he possibly can because he doesn't really need Harry knowing that he wants to see him again. He really doesn't need that. Although the taller boy seems to catch on anyway. What with his sly smirk on his lips. "Not tomorrow but the day after."  
Louis nods.  
"You gonna be home when I'm there?"  
He pretends to contemplate this. "Guess you'll just have to wait and see, huh?"  
Harry laughs because god does he love their banter. Before finally they bid their goodbyes this time.   
"G'Night Lou."  
With a small smile and wave, he shuts the door to his house and skips up the stairs to his bedroom. Not missing the amused smile of Mary who was packing her purse to leave for night bus home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw*  
> Check tags, tags, tags!

The next day went by pretty easily. But Louis was a good student to begin with, so there wasn't much to worry about there. So the majority of his classes were pretty light by now. The only thing out of the ordinary seemed to be with Louis' thoughts. Because it seemed that no matter how hard he tried, how much he wanted to, he could not stop himself from thinking about Harry. It wasn't like he was obsessed with him or anything. It was just that his mind would always somehow find a way to connect things to him. Something would happen in class, and his first thought would be, 'I can't wait to tell Harry about this tomorrow.'Or he'd hear someone tell a dumb joke in the halls and he'd think, 'That would've been so much funnier if Harry had told it.'  
It was annoying honestly. Incessant to say the least.  
That whole day he tried his hardest to calm his thoughts. After all he had other things in his life that he should be focused on. Like how just last night Louis had been up for hours yelling, rather being yelled at, by his girlfriend about the scene that occurred in Maria's. Or about how now the two of them are on some self-proclaimed break. Or about how he got a call saying he might be out of a job soon if they don't start magically getting more customers in the record shop. But still, even with all that shit going on all that he could think about were those emerald eyes and that slick hair.

That first day he tried to push them back. But the next day he decided to just let the thoughts have full reign. After all he was going to see Harry today. He should be allowed to get himself excited.  
So naturally when school got out that day Louis was the first one out of class and the first one practically running out of the school to head back home.

When he finally makes it, he casually pulls off his backpack and throws it to the side. Hurriedly greets Mary and finally opens to door to the garage.  
What he expects to see behind it is a tall, lanky, green eyed, slicked haired, leather jacketed, teenage boy standing by the motorcycle. But what he got instead was a tall, lanky, green eyed, curly haired, leather jacketed teenage boy standing by the motorcycle. And sure it was one detail change, but in Louis' opinion it was a big one.  
"Your hair..." Louis mumbles. Harry looks up at the sound of his voice and absentmindedly lets a hand reach up to brush his fingers through his curls. Almost self consciously it looked like.  
"Uh- yeah. Ran outta hair grease this morning. But Zayn said he'd grab some before tomorrow," Harry explains.

Quietly Louis walks over to the other boy, almost like his feet are being pulled over there and the rest of his body is only going because they just happen to be attached. Gently Louis reaches one single finger up to coil a curl around it. The two were so close as he did so that Louis could feel Harry's icy mint breathe fan across his face. He released the curl and watches as it bounces back to it's original shape.  
Neither boy moves still, and Harry is very tempted to act on his want. His want to grab Louis by the hips and smash their lips together in a passionate and comforting kiss. He wants to. But with a cough and a step taken back to create some distance between him and Louis, he doesn't. 

Louis coughs now too. Trying to halt the blush that is taking over his cheeks and face. "Ehem," He makes an attempt to clear his throat. "So... did you finish the bike?"  
Harry smiles at the conversation switch, trying to get his own damn blush under control. "Yeah, isn't she a beaut." Clearly he was doing a better job of it than Louis.  
He agrees, "Yeah it looks great," even though he isn't totally sure what the difference is from when he started to now.  
Harry smiles taking pride in his handy work and also loving the praise.

Suddenly he walks over the seat of the bike and pats it with his hand. "Hop on," He says gesturing with his head for Louis to come over.  
"Oh no I can't. My dad would flip his lid," Louis protests.  
But Harry isn't having. Louis needs to loosen up a bit. So he just continues to egg him on, "Come on Lou! It's not like you're driving it anywhere."  
Louis seems visibly hesitant. But he knows that Harry is just trying to get him to chill a bit. So with a grumble of how he's 'so dead' under his breathe he walks over to where Harry stands beside the bike.  
He helps him as Louis get one leg over the bike so that he's straddling it. His toes barely touch the ground so it's incredibly hard for him to balance. But before he even has the chance to scream and worry about tipping too far and landing hard on the concrete floor of his garage, he feels a pair of strong hands grip either side of his waist. Holding him in place and centering him as to not fall over.  
With this newfound stability, curtesy of Harry's hands, he gently reaches out for the handle bars in front of him. 

He feels Harry's curls brush against the back of his neck as he must've leaned down so that he could whisper something in his ear."Close your eyes," he says gently.  
Louis does not.  
"Do you trust me?"  
His eyes close.

Slowly Harry begins to move the bike. Not driving forward necessarily, mores just tilting it right and left.  
At one point Harry tips it a little too far to one side and Louis could've sworn he was going to fall straight on the floor. Instinctively his hand let go of the handle bars and go to grasp Harry's resting on his waist as he sucks in a harsh breath of fear.  
His eyes don't open.  
"It's okay. You're okay, I got you. I won't let you fall."  
He releases a shaky breathe and he once again goes to grab the handle bars in front of him.  
Then Harry begins to talk. "Riding has gotta be one of the most freeing things of all time. Chasing the sun light as it sets, the wind gently slapping against your face, asphalt beneath your tires. There's nothing like it."  
"I can feel it," he whispers. And he could. He could feel the sun shining it's last rays of sun for the day out on his face. Feel the wind gently wiping as he speeds on the bike. Hear the asphalt streets crunching underneath the tires as he speeds on the lonely road. He could feel it all. Experience it all, with his eyes closed. 

But with the sound of the garage door being slammed open, that's what snaps him out of it. Snaps his eyes open, snaps Harry's hands off of his waist, causing Louis to nearly fall over with the bike still straddled between his legs.  
"Dad, I-" He tries only to get cut off.  
"Why are you touching my bike boy?"  
Louis watches Harry and can practically see him connecting the dots and realizing, 'Oh shit, Louis told you this would happen.'  
Immediately he is over there and helping the smaller boy get off the bike and swing his leg back over the other side of it. 

Silently Louis backs away a little bit and watches in silent fear as his dad walks over and inspects it. He's barely breathing while watching him run a hand over the black shiny metal. Neither boy moves a muscle.  
They just watch and try to breathe, watch and try to breathe, watch and try to breathe, until suddenly his dad is spinning around a giving Louis a swift backhand so hard his son can taste blood in his mouth.

Upon instinct Louis' hand is flying to the cheek where he was struck and whines at the stinging sensation touch gives it. After the hit it's almost like Louis couldn't think. He couldn't think because, 'Oh fuck my dad just hit me. Oh fuck my dad just hit me! Oh fuck my dad just hit me in front of Harry! Oh fuck.'  
Instantly he looks up at the other people in the garage. And instantly he sees the fear in Harry's eyes. But in nearly a matter of seconds it's replaced with anger. Dark green eyes blazing red with fiery emotions. But Louis' eyes are an ocean blue and he hope he can put it out. It's then that he realized that Harry isn't frozen in place anymore and instead, 'Oh shit Harry looks pissed.' 'Oh shit Harry's walking up to my dad.' 'Oh shit Harry's gonna hit my dad.' 'Oh shit!'  
"Harry stop it!" Louis is finally able to yell. His voice is weak and desperate, but that's how he feels. "Don't do something you're gonna regret!" 

Harry looks at Louis and he swears he could almost see the fight draining right out of him. At some point Louis' dad decides he's bored with the scene and starts to make his leave. Harry scoffs and leaves the garage too Louis trailing behind.

Louis watches as Harry paces up and down that lawn in front of his front door. He had half expected him to flee. To leave, to not turn back and to decide he didn't want to be wrapped up this stupid soc kid's drama after all. But he didn't. He just paced. And somewhere in the back of his mind Louis thought that was worse. Having to watch him freak out like this.  
"Your dad fucking hit you -fucking slapped you- and you yell at me?"  
'Oh, so that's what he's mad about.'  
"What the hell Louis? I was trying to help you!" He jabs a finger in his direction.  
But Louis' not going to let him just yell at him. "You were going to attack him!"  
"And he would've deserved it!" He nearly screams that sentence. "You're right I would've attacked him and he would've deserved it. He would've fucking deserved it because he hit you." His voice progressively got quieter as he continued.  
Louis listens standing completely silent.

He runs a hand through his curls, clearly trying to calm himself down. "Was that the first time?" He asks in an even tone.  
Louis gives him a small nod. But either he didn't notice the little gesture, or he didn't think it was good enough because immediately he repeated himself but a good few notches louder. "Was that the first time Louis!" He shouts.  
"Yes that was the first time!" Louis shouts back. "He's never hit me before, okay? I'm not like you guys! He doesn't do that kind of thing!"  
It all sort of came out in a rush. A heat of the moment type of sentence. Doesn't mean it didn't have power.

They stand there in silence for a second. Slowly the realization seems to hit him about what he just said. And oh shit, that was not what he meant to say.

"Your not like us?" Harry almost whispers out. A dry laugh comes from his throat that holds more disbelief than actual humor.  
"That's- that's not what I meant Harry." It's a weak attempt but it needs to be said.  
Harry just faces him looking angry, "That's not what you meant? Well that what you said!" Louis knows this is true. "Because what? All greasers come from broken home? All come from shitty south side homes? Is that what you're not like? You're not a shitty Southsider?"  
Harry continues to rant and all Louis can do is miserably watch him and shake his head. Because yes he said it, but he didn't mean it. It just came out. "You know I didn't mean that," He tries pathetically.  
But Harry looks like he's about to leave. Ready to walk away and leave Louis behind. So when he turns his back and is about to walk away, Louis just can't have that. "Please Harry! I'm sorry." 

The last part was nearly mumbled out. Louis doesn't say it often. Or at least mean it often. But he meant it this time. And it causes Harry to stop dead in his tracks.  
He stands there for a moment, back still to Louis, as if contemplating if he should forgive him or not.  
After a moment he is turning around and walking at a fast pace back towards Louis. A part of Louis is bracing himself. For Harry might actually hit him right now, and he wouldn't blame him much, but it would still hurt. He squeezes his eyes shut as he listens to the sound of Harry's footsteps walk closer and then stop. But no flash of pain comes afterward. 

So hesitantly his eyes ease back open. When they do he is surprised to find Harry standing with his face right in front of his. Only inches apart. In another situation this might be a sexual amount of closeness. But this was more tense. Louis felt like he was being observed. And in the back of his mind he knew he was. Harry was trying to find any hint that his apology was insincere. Any inclination that maybe he didn't mean that either.

They only stand there for a moment. Before Harry is gently backing up and out of Louis' face. Both of them releasing a breath they had been holding in.  
Walking over to the curb in front of Louis' house, Harry sits himself down. And after taking a second to regroup himself, Louis follows suit.

They sit with silence between them. Harry with his hands in his curls and his face serious and Louis with one knee up to rest his chin on top of and his arms folded around his shin. Both were feeling equally as uncomfortable.

"I got mad at you because you were right," Harry finally speaks.  
Immediately Louis tenses up.  
"That's why I froze for a second back there. The violence it just..." he sighs for a moment, "brought me back there."  
Louis nods because what else can he really do.  
"I got out of there last year. Went to live with Li and Zee at 18."  
Louis relaxes a little.  
"Still doesn't excuse your insistent use of stereotypes."  
Louis agrees, "I know."

Harry picks his head up to look at Louis beside him. "You're being real when you tell me this was the first time?"  
"Yes."  
Harry nods.  
The silence returns. 

"After my mom died, I think he went a little crazy. I mean we both did, but still," Louis figures if Harry can be open, then he could too. At least a little bit. "He wasn't working, yet he was spending everything. I mean it got to the point where we couldn't even afford our uh 'Northside Mansion' as I believe Niall called it, and we had to move."  
Louis sneaks a look at Harry, who is already looking at him and giving his full attention.  
"The bike was one of the uhh, bigger purchases I guess. I think he kinda used it to fill that hole in his heart. I was never allowed to touch it. But I guess it's just his way to keep her close." He looks at Harry and immediately back tracks, "Or something like that. I -uhh- don't really know for sure."  
Harry puts a hand on his shoulder as if to say, it's alright. You don't need to hold back.  
Luckily there wasn't really much else to say. With a sigh Louis leans over to place his head on Harry's shoulder. Harry lets him. And they sit like that for a bit, watching passing cars drive by. 

"I don't think you should stay here tonight," Harry mumbles into his hair. "You could stay with me for the night. Or at least until he cools off."  
Louis tries to laugh, "Wow, I didn't think we were at the sleeping over stage."  
Harry tries too. "Don't worry I can take the couch or something." Louis tries not to let it show that he's the slightest bit saddened by this. "I just don't feel comfortable with you being here right now."  
Louis sighs, it almost feels surreal that that is something he has to worry about right now. "Yeah I can come over there."  
What is his life becoming?


End file.
